that's required for a balanced package if all you're relying on is closing deductions and loopholes. >> reporter: if there's no deal, cbs reports families making $20,000 to $40,000 a year will have taxes go up $12,000. $64,000 to $108,000, taxes $3500 a year. that's a category in which this family of woodbridge falls, a family already cutting back. >> i think it will put any future plans that we might have on hold of let's say fixing some electrical in our house. that's an immediate need we have and we can't do it right now. >> they have no idea how their choices and their fighting and bickering affect the rest of us. >> reporter: no deal and they affect the rest of us as vice president cheney used to say big time in just 26 days.

gary nurenberg, 9news. well, get ready for $100 billion in spending cuts. that's what the white house budget office is telling federal agencies to do if there is no agreement on the fiscal cliff. we have dedicated our entire news department to track this story and be ready with alerts on the air and on the web. every day we feature stories that will show you how you will be affected if the federal government does go over that fiscal cliff. you can get alerts sent straight to your phone about the fiscal cliff on our cliff notes by texting "the cliff" to 25543. our time is 4:31. intelligence officials in pakistan say three suspected militants were killed in a u.s. drone attack. in the last few months, american officials have privately admitted the strikes have killed several al qaeda and taliban commanders. three people were killed overnight in clashes in egypt. supporters of president mohamed

morsi battled protesters outside the palace. demonstrators are trying to stop a referendum on the new constitution. the constitution was written by conservative supporters of morsi without contribution from liberal legislators or religious minorities. there has been a significant drop in illegal immigration after nearly a decade of steady increases. according to the latest census, the number of illegal immigrants in the united states was estimated at 11.1 million in 2011. that's compared to the peak of 12 million in 2007. researchers say the weak economy in the united states is what's causing the decline. busy signals, dropped calls, all too familiar afor instances for people -- aannounces for people who use 911. but one congressman is blaming verizon wireless for the problems. >> jerry connolly described a subpar 911 system run by verizon. now he wants the federal communications system to help

fix it. ken molestina tells us how. >> i guess i would give it a d. >> reporter: virginia congressman jerry connolly is slamming verizon wireless. they're contracted to route 911 calls throughout much of the washington area. according to him, they've fallen short. >> the whole purpose of having 911 is when you need it, it works. >> reporter: he cites recent weather events that have knocked out the systems as examples of where they've failed. during the 2010-2011 winter, several storms interrupted 911 service. more recently this summer's derecho did the same thing. >> the catastrophic failure that occurred at the time of the derecho is not an isolated incident. there have been a number of 911 outages. >> reporter: some callers got busy signals, others got nothing at all. now he and two other corningmen are -- congressmen are behind a push to get them to face scrutiny good if they can't be counted on to do it voluntarily, we need the fcc to

step in and promulgate new standards and regulations and make sure they're enforced. >> reporter: verizon said they've learned from previous weather events and improved themselves during superstorm sandy. a spokesman wrote, verizon's network performed well during and after sandy as backup power kicked in seamlessly when commercial power to a number of our switching facilities in the region including arlington was lost. but the congressman believes lives are in jeopardy. >> this is all about protecting the public glsh the fcc has been looking into verizon's performance. a spokesman said in part, quote, what happened to 911 service during the derecho is unacceptable. we'll release the findings of our inquiry into what occurred along with the next steps. of course we'll keep a close eye on this for you. in the meantime let me know what you think about all this. tweet me at ken at wusa9. i'm ken molestina, 9news. police are searching for the people responsible for the shooting death of 14-year-old

reyes shot yesterday morning on sheridan street in louisdale. he was walking with two other people when someone drove by and started shooting. two of the people are known gang members and they believe the shooting is gang related. the car used in the shooting has been recovered. it is 4:35. here's a look at some of the other things making news now. the man accused of shoving a man on to the subway tracks in new york city will remain in jail until his next hearing. he was charged with murder after police say he made some statements implicating himself in this crime. the number keeps growing. nearly 350 people have been killed by a typhoon which swept across the southern philippines on wednesday. government officials say another 400 people are missing. 78 of the dead include villagers and soldiers who were killed in a flash flood which swamped two emergency shelters

and a military camp. president obama is expected to ask congress for $50 billion to aid in the hurricane sandy relief effort. the late october storm was one of the worst ever to hit the northeastern section of the country. in maryland on the eastern shore, you can still find plenty of debris strewn around. homeowners say they're still working to repair the damage and are waiting for any form of federal aid. a washington tradition continues tonight with the lighting of the national christmas tree on the ellipse. >> it's a brand new tree. the first family will light it around 5:00 p.m. this year's display features 56 trees, including one from each state, the territories and the district. it's the 90th year for the event. the organizers are expected more than 20,000 people for the show. we will bring you the tree lighting ceremony live right here on wusa9 at 5:00 p.m. coming up on 4:37, we're in for a brisk day today. much colder than yesterday. howard is back in two minutes with your forecast.

>> cutbacks at one of the nation's largest banks comes as a coffee giant is announcing plans to expand. >> a lawmaker subjects lowering fares on a local toll road. >> 9news returns in two minutes. stay with us.

it is 4:39 on this thursday morning. much colder out there. grab the heavy coats and the gloves. you're going to need them. we have temps in the 20s and 30s now. look at the temperature at 3:00, 45. we'll be lucky to get 46, 47 today. winds light southeast at 5 miles an hour. your warmer weekend forecast in just a few minutes. right now here's monika with timesaver traffic. >> thank so you much, howard. we're just getting words the scene of an overnight fire in southeast minnesota avenue north of good hope road, minnesota avenue has been reopened. here on the outer loop heading for i-270, watch out for the overturned tractor-trailer. it's been there since the 1:00 hour along the right side of the road.

i'll have more on that coming up in my next report. back to you, mike and andrea. thank you, monika. time for the first your money segment of the morning. >> jessica is looking at the headlines. maybe there was a positive lens to see the numbers yesterday. >> it was a good day if you rngts an investor -- you aren't an investor. a pretty good day enthough there is no sign of any resolution on the fiscal cliff. the dow stands back above 13,000, thank you very much, a gain of almost 83 points in trade yesterday. the nasdaq was off by 23 points and the s&p 500 was up by 2. sales of foreclosed homes rose 21% in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter. foreclosed -- foreclosure related sales accounted for 19% of all u.s. residential sales from july through september. foreclosed homes also sold for 32% less than the average price of a home not in foreclosure.

it weighs down the price of all homes in the surrounding neighborhoods. citigroup is eliminating 11,000 jobs. its goal is to rouse expenses and improve efficient -- reduce expenses and improve efficiency. it will close some branches. apple stock fell over 6% yesterday. it's down another 2% today after hours trading to make matters worse, the stock now down 22% from its all time high. here's why. a research firm raised its outlook for sales of tablet computers and said apple's ipad probably won't be able to hold on to its dominance of the tablet market forever giving up to the likes of google, samsung and nook. there are 11 and a half,000 starbucks in the country.

the chain wants to have more than 20,000 stores worldwide by 2014. it plans to open a lot of drive- threws. -- drive-thrus. those are fantastic. and kiosks. we need more 24-hour ones. the video game call of duty topped $1 billion in sales in 15 days on the market. this is the latest installment of the best selling video game franchise. previous installment reached the billion dollar mark on day 16. we went into the wrong business, my friends. >> video games, fiscal cliff. >> if you're some the entertainment business, why even put out a movie. are you kidding me? that's real money like that. >> why pay actors. >> just create them. >> i haven't played a video game, even as a kid. >> i played pacman. that was the extent of my video playing. >> so flabbergasting.

>> the video game fiscal cliff. >> they could pay for it. new recommendations for the drug tap mox ten -- tamoxifen could make a big difference for cancer patients. >> that story and your cold weather first.

good morning. welcome back to 9news now. it's 4:45 this thursday morning. compared to yesterday, the word

is brrrr. >> temps have really dropped off. one nice thing. the winds which were gusty yesterday are going to be a lot lighter today. it's going to be colder but less windy. always a trade-off. always compromises and sacrifices. we'll get to the forecast, your bus stop forecast. bundle up. temperatures in the 20s and 30s. we're going to have mainly clear skies this morning. no concerns about any rain or precip in that regard. sunrise not until 7:13. sets at 4:47. 35 degrees at 8:00 with sunny skies. north winds will become light and turn to the southeast this afternoon. lunch time temp only 43. we'll be lucky to get to 46, maybe 47 with a 45-degree reading at 4:00. by 8:00 p.m. partly cloudy and 40 with light southeasterly winds. we'll be going back into the upper 20s and mid-30s tonight. this morning we dipped to 27 in gaithersburg. 28 in cumberland and hagerstown. still 32 in fredricksburg and our warm spot at the patuxent

naval air station 38. when you compare these temps to the temperatures 24 hours ago, we're down nearly 30 in gaithersburg, 31 in culpeper. it's 26 degrees colder in easton and 25 degrees colder in hagerstown. a very different air mass than yesterday and itself last couple of days for -- the last couple of days for that matter. we're looking at our michael & son weather camera. that's a pretty shot. a quiet morning with a temperature of 36. the air has dried out. dew points yesterday morning were in the upper 40s. this morning they are in the lower 20s. things have changed big time. cold front went through about 24 hours ago. the one thing i want you to notice, see the clouds moving west to east across the country? they're not diving that way. if they were diving that way, that would be a sign there's more cold air coming in and that it's going to last but it really isn't. the next system in the midwest with rain and a wintry mix on the northern end is going to turn winds around to the south and bring in some milder air.

even a little bit milder starting tomorrow. the other thing we're watching are a few showers and storms in the gulf of mexico and our frontal boundary way off shore. a quiet, cold, sunny day today. temperatures will get into the mid, maybe upper 40s south and west of town. another chilly night. tomorrow in the morning, could see some showers well west of us. tomorrow afternoon looks like we'll have a threat of showers, especially north. isolated chance of showers here and there tomorrow as warmer air returns with temperatures in the lower, maybe mid-50s tomorrow. as we get into tomorrow night, a few showers will be possible as more warm air comes in for saturday. i think saturday maybe an early shower but some sunshine. saturday's temps should shoot back into the 60s. so our forecast the next three days, notice our weather alerts are all green across the board. 46 degrees today. tonight we're back in the 20s and 30s. 54 tomorrow. could be a late shower. then an early shower saturday as we climb into the lower to

middle 60s. sunday, the ravens and redskins. that game is right here on channel 9 at 1:00. 62. slight chance after shower. maybe a storm monday late before back in the 40s on tuesday. monika samtani, it's 4:49. you've been working the phones as you walked in the door. >> i've been busy. it's been very, very busy. we're trying to get the latest information for you. southeast crews have been dealing with a fire on good hope road or minnesota avenue north of good hope road in southeast d.c. the latest is that minnesota avenue had been reopened. so you can go through that area but you may have to slow down a bit with authorities still on the scene there. here's what's happening on the beltway north of town. outer loop right around 2:00 this morning overturned tractor- trailer as he was exiting right here toward northbound i-270. he was not injured but the truck was fully loaded. they need to offload that it's going to take the rest of rush hour to do that. the right side of the road is blocked. if you're heading westbound on 495 and you need to exit on to northbound 270, you can do

that. just stay to the left to get around it and expect slower than normal traffic there. we'll take a live look. right now things are so light that it's not affecting traffic east of i-270 on the beltway. this time over to 66. things look great here. no issues at all manassas into centreville. thank goodness for that. things look fine as you head for the beltway. no issues on the beltway through tysons corner. the d.c. council has rejected a plan which would have authorized red top parking meters for handicapped drivers. the bill would have required handicapped drivers to start paying for parking but the plan died in a vote which ended tied at 6-6. a member of the montgomery county council wants the maryland transportation authority to lower the tolls on the intercounty connector. good idea. phil andrew says the fares should be cut in half to encourage more people to use the road. right now drivers pay $8 to drive end to end on the 18-mile road during rush hour. trucks can pay as much as $36

for the same way one trip. -- one trip on that road. i'll be back at 4:55 with more traffic. >> see you then. thanks. a new study could change the current standard of care when it comes to breast cancer. >> british researchers have found taking the drug tamoxifen for a longer period of time could have significant benefits. >> reporter: kerry took the drug tamoxifen for five years after she was diagnosed with breast cancer at 33. >> even though it may make you not feel great or you might have side effects, it's -- you know you're doing something that's helping you. >> reporter: now new research suggests women should take tamoxifen for ten years, twice as long as the current five- year recommendation. researchers at the university of oxford found breast cancer patients who took the drug longer were less likely to die from the disease and less likely to have their cancer come back. >> the benefits are particularly in the second ten

years. that's very helpful i think for that group of women who really have been worrying till now. >> reporter: there are about 230,000 new cases of breast cancer each year. 50,000 are in young women before menopause. tamoxifen is the top drug treatment for that group since it blocks the hormone estrogen which can fuel tumors. >> i think this will have an effect on practice and particularly for my young patients at high risk of recurrence, i think longer tamoxifen will feel much safe foreall of us. >> reporter: even women like kerry who completed tamoxifen years ago when i consider going back on it. >> i trust my doctor unqirvely. if he -- unequivocally of the if he said to me you need to go on this drug for five years, i would do it. >> reporter: the 44-year-old says she just wants to be here for as many years as she can. >> tamoxifen does have side effects, including increased risk for endometrial cancer, blood clots, hot flashed and

nausea but the risk of serious side effects is low. 4:53 now. the benefits of prenatal genetic testing, the subject of two subjects published in the "new england journal of medicine." researchers discovered fetuses declared healthy by conventional tests were later found to have abnormalities. they have been known to cause minor defects such as club foot. a second study in the journal suggests that gene testing could help reveal the cause of still births. if you feel like sometimes your kids are going to send you to an early grave, there's actually a new study says the reverse is true, especially for women. listen to n. danish scientists found that parents live longer than childless couples who have tried to have kids but couldn't. people who adopt a child also live longer.

previous research shows that parents tend to have healthier behaviors than people without children. 4:54. time for the question of the morning. >> the average american woman buys 17 of these every single year. is it a, shoes? no way, it's much higher than that. b, bottles of wine, or c, 17 smartphone apps. >> log on to the wusa9 facebook fan page. leave your response. we'll reveal the answer during the 6:00 hour. we'll be back.

welcome back. 4:56 this thursday morning. much colder. we start in the 20s and 30s. one thing you'll notice the relatively light winds, a lot lighter. yesterday we were gusting 25 to 30. this afternoon look for winds southeast at only about 5 miles an hour with highs in the middle 40s. monika, over to you. on the southbound side of i- 270, things look great coming down from montrose road to where the lanes divide. the tractor-trailer accident from overnight, though, sits on the outer loop at the exit for

northbound i-270 along the right side of the road. i'll have more details on that coming up at 5:01. the annual demonstration of holiday safety didn't go exactly as planned at the consumer products safety commission. the event usually shows some of the risks of having a menorah too close to your curtains or allowing your christmas tree to dry out. but once the group set fire to the tree, it didn't get the fire completely out. when the tree was later disposed off outside, it caught fire again along with everything else in the dumpster. luckily no one was hurt but the building was evacuated for a short period of time as a precaution. >> just shows you the danger even more. >> exactly. jazz legend dave bruback would have been 92 today. he died yesterday in norwalk, connecticut. he's a connecticut native. he was the first modern jazz musician to appear on the cover of "time" magazine. he formed his first quartet in

1951. there it is. beautiful song. perhaps best known for his 1959 release "take five." the song would become his signature piece. it was the first jazz record to sell one million copies. he died at 91. >> i love that piece. it makes you feel happy when you hear it. here's more great music. the world's longest running musical "les miserables" hits the big screen christmas day. >> alexis christoforous takes a look at what makes this version of the movie different than anyone you've ever seen before. >> reporter: broken and haggerred when the audience first meets him, sentenced to 19 years of hard labor for stealing a loaf of bread in 19th century france. the epic tale follows him played by hugh jackman as he raises an orphan to redeem

himself while remaining on the run from a ruthless policeman played by russell crowe. >> become a dog on the run, have i fallen so far and the hour so late. >> reporter: unlike movie musicals of the past, the cast of "les miserables" did not prerecord their songs in a studio. they sang on the set with a live piano they could hear in an ear piece allowing them more freedom with the music. >> it seemed more risks were taken by more people on any parts i've been involved with. >> reporter: the live singing was especially exciting for actress ann hat away. her mother played the same tragic role in the touring company when she was 7 years old. >> i think seeing my mother die really left a big impression on me with the character just knowing how seriously i'd take this part. >> reporter: in her song "i dreamed a dream" there are no cut aways, no wide shots. >> she found a way of telling the story of that